A plan to make a plan... with no real substance
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection last week released released a draft of what they say is "the state’s first Climate Change Resilience Strategy" intended to set state priorities for combating climate change.

While we certainly have many concerns about the over 100 recommendations they are making and will be raising them going forward, we wanted to point out that we agree with Jeff Tittel of the Sierra Club who noted that once again they are providing a "plan to make a plan" with "no real substance."

The fact is, the substance is what matters. How will they do what they plan? What will it cost? Who will be impacted by those actions? Those are the answers we need to start receiving.
The Tiny Nugget You May Have Missed...
We have talked repeatedly at AENJ about the need to move deliberately and transparently so that we have all the facts necessary to make the best decisions to ensure our energy remains diversified, reliable and affordable as we tackle long term climate challenges. This week, tucked inside a story at NJ.com, we get this note about a DEP report containing something you might have over looked...

A DEP report analyzing the state’s progress stressed the importance of other states’ cooperation. It said even if New Jersey achieves every goal laid out in the new report by 2050, the overall impact will be negligible without equal efforts from other states, the federal government and other nations.

That would be the DEP acknowledging it will require the actions of others, not just simply New Jersey, to have a measurable impact on climate. That is not to say New Jersey shouldn't take action, but it does mean our state should take steps to help reach goals that are in our own best interests. To do that, we need slow down and start providing some transparency on the true costs of the actions they plan to take to make the best decisions about how to move forward.
New Jersey Energy Transparency Watch
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